BY MAXINE KAMUS
The MAKER of Queen Emma Chocolate won a ribbon at the first Pacific Cocoa and Chocolate Show Pacific Cup celebrating 130 years of Pacific Cocoa history.
Managing Director of Manabo Cocoa Lands Development Limited Kingstan Kamuri said it was a satisfying feeling to get feedback from international cocoa experts that their beans are up there with other good quality beans from around the world. .
He said it was reassuring and that they were proud of the cocoa beans from Papua New Guinea.
“The plantation is located in the district of Abau in the central province. We started planting from scratch in 2015 and have been supplying Queen Emma chocolate since 2019,” he said.
“The plantation itself is about six years old and we have met the post-harvest quality standards of the PNG Cocoa Board since our inception.
Mr. Kamuri said farmers who tend to stray will face many problems that will undermine the market not only for themselves but for the entire PNG market as it is a crop of export and they are currently price takers.
“I have been involved in the agricultural sector for six to seven years now and I am still learning a lot about the culture as well as the industry.
There are still a lot of things about the culture that I need to master and I’m taking it step by step,” he said.
Mr Kamuri said he was still slowly trying to understand how the basic export agriculture market works and that PNG still had a very long way to go as the sector was significantly underdeveloped.
He said being recognized for producing to international standards is a big step for them and they would like to involve more farmers in the future so that everyone can share in the success.
